She's My Sunday
by CommonlyCarolyn
Summary: When Scorpius asks Draco how he knew who he should spend the rest of his life with, Draco recalls all of his former relationships and explains to his son how he found the love of his life.
1. How did you know?

Hello, all! This is just something that I thought of after watching a BuzzFeed video called "The 7 Types of Girls You Date". If you have not seen it, I suggest that you do because it is sickeningly sweet and could give you some idea on where I'm coming from.

So, not only do I own the concept as it belongs to BuzzFeed, I also don't own any of these characters, as they all belong to J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series.

I hope you all enjoy my first story!

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"How did you know, dad?"

Ripping me from my thoughts, my son's voice called out to me as he lowered himself to the bench that I had been occupying for no less than an hour. I hadn't even realized he was here and outside until his voice startled me from staring at my wife who was working with our two younger children on tending to the garden. As I turned my attention to my eldest child, the shrieks of laughter and voices of the rest of our family faded and I suddenly became aware of how much my son had changed over the years.

He was no longer my six year old who clung to my leg and came bounding to the fireplace when I arrived home from work. In fact, he had just been promoted in his first job not too long ago, and had even moved into his own flat in the past year and a half, much to my dismay. It didn't seem possible to me that my son was old enough to be supporting himself, but I knew that it was time to let him grow up and fly away from the nest, as my wife often told me. At almost twenty years old he was quite the ambitious young man, and although I didn't want to admit it, I had to let him grow up.

"I'm sorry, Scorpius, what did you say?" I asked him bashfully, knowing I had been caught in a trance that never failed. My wife and children were my life, and nobody could ever question my love for any member of our five part family. Pulling a hand through my pale blond hair, I let out a soft sigh. Had it really been twenty five years since I had been nineteen like Scorpius was now? Although my wife teased me about my age endlessly, I refused to believe that I was getting old, instead reminding myself that I still had enough energy to keep up with our twelve and ten year olds.

"How did you know that she was the one for you?" He restated his question to me, and all of a sudden it made perfect sense. With raised eyebrows and a small smirk, I pondered on the implications of his question. My son was much like I had been when I was his age; not having a long attention span when it came to relationships. There had been a change though. Although I couldn't be for sure as I no longer lived with him, I could tell that he was happier, and he continuously wore the smug, happy look that he had inherited from me. I had a growing suspicion that there was a girl that was changing everything from him.

As my grey eyes met their match in my son's, I realized that I actually needed to answer his question. It wasn't often that Scorpius came to me for these kinds of things, and I wanted to assure him that I would always be there for him. "She's my Sunday." I said softly, my line of vision finding my beloved wife as her head tipped backwards in laughter at something our ten year old daughter must have said. My perfect daughter, the one that looked so much like her mother while her two brothers were mostly my copies with a few details of their mother mixed in.

Turning back to my son, I had to force myself to cough to hide the laughter that built in my chest at seeing the tell-tale signs of confusion growing on his face. Since he was a child he had made the same expressions, a wrinkled nose atop pursed lips and far away looking eyes as he tried to mull over what I said before meeting me with a pleading look to explain myself. He needed to understand, and as his father, I had to make sure I shared my knowledge with him. As I messed with his hair and he batted my hand away with a smirk, I thanked my lucky stars that Scorpius and I had developed a stronger relationship than I had ever attempted with my own father.

"She's my Sunday, Score." I let out a sigh, knowing how sappy my son was about to hear me sound. Hopefully he had enough sense to know I had every baby photo and embarrassing story about him at my disposal if he let someone know how much of a romantic I could be. "You know how days of the week all have some kind of special thing about them that makes us feel a certain way? Relationships are kind of like that, too, I think."

Realization dawned on his face as he processed my words and eventually I observed him as he leaned forward, propping himself up on his arms that were making right angles as they rested on his legs. "Like, how Monday is always overwhelming and Friday is always fun?" He asked me, to which I nodded and offered him a small smile. "For the most part, yeah, that's right."

As the sun warmed my skin and I didn't feel the pressure of work or the stress of sending my baby girl to Hogwarts in a few months, I was again reminded of why I loved Sundays. "Sundays are special," I started again, hoping he didn't find my explanations too vague for his liking. "I knew that she was the one because I've experienced all of the other days, too. There's something different about her, about Sundays if you will."

With one raised eyebrow staring at me, I let out a chuckle and settled back against my trusty bench, settling in for quite the story as I folded my hands in my lap. This wouldn't be the first story that I told him on this very bench, and I hoped with everything I had that it wouldn't be the last. Sundays indeed were my favorite days. It was a day for love, a day for family, and mostly a day of happiness. "I'll start at the beginning then, and maybe by the time I finish you won't think that your dad has gone batty."

My son's smiling and eager face sent nostalgic feelings straight to my heart. Every once in awhile, when he was excited, he would get the same expression on his face that he had when he used to greet me from work every day before I would hoist him into the air and onto my hip where he could tell me all about his day. No, my son was no longer a child, and I was no longer the center of his world, but if I was going to be included on him finding the new center of his world, well, I had no complaints.


	2. Monday

Here's chapter two! Thank you to everyone who has commented, followed, and/or favorited this story, I truly appreciate it.

Once again, I do not own the concept of this cute "day themed" story, and I give credit and thanks to Buzzfeed for the video that inspired me. J.K. Rowling owns these characters and the Harry Potter series, and I unfortunately, do not.

Enjoy and let me know what you think about this chapter!

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Looking back on my relationships was never something that I entirely enjoyed or found myself proud of. I have all of the excuses in the world for why my thoughts on love would have been messed up when I was that young, but if I'm being honest with myself, I was mainly just a scared boy. I wasn't the man that I thought I was, and I certainly had a habit of getting myself into things that were way over my head and capabilities. One of those things that I had started, though short lived, was a quasi relationship with the girl known as my Monday. We never dated, truthfully. It had been more of a situation of being forced together and both of us needing a distraction from the rest of the world in a bleak time.

Just like the beginning of a new week, it had been something new, something I could call a new beginning even though I knew that everything would still be the same in the end. While at first it was fun to dabble into something that most people would have expected me not to, reality soon set in and things went back to how they had been previously. In typical Malfoy fashion, I didn't hold many feelings for the girl and therefore didn't disclose any information about my personal life with her, and when she pushed for answers I, of course, retracted.

"Before I start you have to promise me that you won't beg me to tell you who these girls are, because you know a fair few of them.," I commanded with a smirk at my son as his eagerness diminished slightly. "You're far too much like me, and if I'm going to give you advice I'll be sure that you don't get to blackmail me with it."

Scorpius laughed, nodding his assent to let the girls of my past remain a secret to the best of our abilities. "Just get on with it dad, I promise I won't tease you too much," he started, a familiar glint in his eye. "But, if you just so happen to be obvious in your explanation, I call fair game for giving you hell." Rolling my eyes, I let out a defeated sigh. He really was too much like me for his own good.

Ready to dive into the story, I realized that it had been a long time since I had thought about any of my past relationships. With a final glance at my radiant wife, I felt the warmth she caused spread through my chest. If my son had found someone that caused the same feelings that I felt all those years ago with her and still do to this day, then I knew I had to give him the right information to keep pursuing this secret relationship.

"Like always, Monday hits you like a stack of bricks," I began with a faint chuckle, my hand absentmindedly brushing back my short bangs. "This girl… huge was an understatement for her personality." Was, and still is, I thought with a cheeky grin in thinking about the girl who had probably obliviated these memories from herself, and rightfully so. I had always been a prat to her and all of her friends. Really, it was surprising that we had ever been in our situation to begin with. It all had began when I started to slip up in Charms class in my sixth year of Hogwarts. Naturally, Flitwick had brilliantly suggested that I get tutoring from one of his best students. Who else should I have been expecting to meet in the library other than the brightest witch in our class. Hermione Granger.

 _Hogwarts, 1996_

 _Storming into the library I shoved my pass from that twit Flitwick into Madam Pince's face before leaving with a huff and throwing my books onto a small desk in a corner of the quiet library. Who was that man to think that I wasn't competent enough for his class? If only he knew the charms I had been dealing with over the past couple of months. When you're working for the darkest wizard that has walked the earth, you don't exactly stop your education. No, I had to be smart and I had to be the best. If I wasn't, well, I couldn't think about what would happen if I didn't fix that damn cabinet soon. Mother told me not to worry about it, but I wasn't dim enough to miss the worry and anxiety behind her hardened eyes._

 _My thoughts were interrupted as the person I assumed to have been assigned as my tutor noisily fell into the seat next to me. "Listen, Malfoy, I didn't choose this either but Professor Flitwick told me that it would look good on resumes if I had already done some teaching. So, this is how it's going to work. I talk, you listen. Ask questions if need be, but I won't hesitate to leave if you waste my time." As the girl that I had terrorized for the past five and a half years rambled on to me about how I was going to deal with her whether I liked it or not, I couldn't help but grimace. She thought she was so high and mighty, preparing for her future and all. Who even knew if there would be a future at this point. If Voldemort was the leader of the future, it was one that I was almost certain that I did not want to live in._

 _Breaking my thoughts, I brought my eyes to hers and chuckled lightly at the frustration that was so very evident in her expression. She may not be a pureblood, but even my father would have had to be blind to underestimate the witch in front of me. "Carry on Granger, I'd like to make this fast. Teach. I'll listen about as much as I do in class." I motioned for her to start her lesson, observing her closely as she ignored my snarky behavior and began explaining concepts that I already knew. I wasn't doing poorly because I didn't know the material, I was failing because I was so tired that I slept through the last examination._

 _Working on that damned cabinet was taking a toll on me, and I could see it more and more every time I passed a mirror. The bags under my eyes, the sickly pale shade of my skin, the ribs poking through my skin… I knew I was withering away. I had to keep working though, I had to fix that cabinet before Voldemort became more impatient and took it out on my mother and myself. It wasn't my fault that my useless father had messed up their attack and got himself imprisoned. He had always claimed that he worked for Voldemort to protect his family, but at this point I was more than doubting those claims._

 _Realizing that the voice beside me had quit rambling, I jerked to the side, finding Hermione gaping at me with wide eyes. Had I said my thoughts out loud? Did she somehow know what I was thinking about? If she knew then everything would be ruined. I clenched my clammy hands into fists, and despite my pulse beating wildly across my chest, I did my best to meet her eyes with the standard Malfoy sneer and look of indifference. "What do you want, Granger?" I spat, hoping my rude attitude would make her back off._

 _Instead of the verbal lashing I expected from the know-it-all, I was surprised to see her back down, raising her hands in a surrender motion. "You just look absolutely exhausted, that's all," she said in a small voice, very unlike the girl I had made her up to be in my mind. To me she was loud and obnoxiously studious, not this girl that cared whether or not Draco Malfoy was getting enough sleep on a daily basis. "Come to think of it, you've looked like this for awhile now. Is everything okay?"_

 _I reached forward, slamming the book in front of us closed, causing her to jump in her seat beside me. "It's none of your damn business, Granger." I retorted through gritted teeth while collecting my things to leave. "Since when would you care about if I was okay or not anyways? I'm sure that you and your perfect friends would just love to know that something was wrong in the Malfoy family, wouldn't you? Even if there was something to gossip about, what made you think I would tell you of all people?" As soon as the words were out of my mouth I knew that I had been too harsh, and my stomach clenched as I saw a look of hurt cross her face before I stalked off._

"You were such a prat, why would anyone have dated you let alone marry you?" My son laughed, interrupting my story while simultaneously making me grin. He wasn't wrong, I really had been one of the worst prats in school, and everyone had known it. I assumed that's why I didn't have a lot of friends from Hogwarts besides Blaise. I had been too big of a coward to make real relationships with anyone back then, thinking that love and friendship could only be used as a weakness. How wrong I had been astounded me, and I thanked Merlin for how my life turned out every day.

I reached forward and tapped his foot with a little bit of force, causing it to uncross from his knee and fall to the ground as punishment for his teasing. "Well, I'm not that big of a prat anymore am I?" I asked him, continuing on before he could take another shot at me and continue to make fun of his father. If only Lucius could see how happy a parent and a child could be when humor was allowed. "Lucky for you, too, seeing as you wouldn't be here if I hadn't." He nodded his quiet happiness, motioning for me to continue on with my story.

As I thought about the reasoning for pushing Hermione Granger out of my life and the next part of my story, a feeling of embarrassment twisting in my stomach. I had long ago told my son of my involvement in the second war and how I had been on the wrong side until the very last second. When he was eleven years old I had finally sat him down and told the story, letting him ask the questions he had wanted to know about the now fading scar on my arm that I had always brushed off. There was no way in Hell that I would have sent my son to Hogwarts without knowing the full truth. Although life had changed there were still many people who would have liked to see me waste away in Azkaban, and I didn't need their kids telling my own son what I may or may have not have done in my teenage years. Scorpius knew of all of my wrong doings and just how grave life had been back then, yet he had responded to the story with an understanding that I didn't know an eleven year old could possess. Finally, I looked back at him, knowing that he would always love me even if he had to hear another story about my wrong doings. "She was too focused on the future, and I was very much in the present."

 _The study sessions continued on for a few weeks, almost always the same with her spewing facts about charms and me growing even quieter at the realization that I had made zero progress on the cabinet. On one day that I had been particularly quiet and brooding, Hermione actually took a chance on me and interrupted my thoughts once more. Before I could even form a scowl, she raised a hand to keep me from doing anything other than waiting for her to continue with whatever she was going to tell me._

 _"_ _I just…I wanted to apologize about our first meeting," She began, twirling her already curly hair around a finger as she looked anywhere that didn't happen to be me. "I was wrong in asking you to tell me what was wrong, as we've never exactly had that kind of relationship." I had to smile at that, remembering that our kind of relationship was the one where she threatened me with a wand and then properly punched my face in. No, we hadn't really had a relationship that would afford feelings and problems being rationally discussed between the two of us._

 _She kept rambling on, about how she was wrong and how logically she should have known that all along. Every time I tried to interrupt her, to wave off her apologies and ask her to just continue on with the lesson, she promptly told me to shut up and continued to speak. With a sigh, I leaned forward and brought my lips to hers. "Granger, shut up," I managed before ghosting my lips over hers. Much to my surprise, she responded against me just as easily as I had started it. Briefly I wondered if anyone was looking at us, but knew that my concerns were unfounded as we were always the last ones in the library and it was quite late._

 _After pulling away, I took notice of the pink hues in her cheeks and felt myself smirk as I gathered my things from the desk in front of us. "See you tomorrow, Granger." I said softly, leaving her to her thoughts as I walked back to the Room of Requirement. I had a long night ahead of me, and that kiss had been enough to give me the energy to push through it. It wasn't as if I had felt anything from the barely there kiss, but rather, it was something completely new. Kissing Hermione Granger contradicted everything I was doing with my life, and it gave me hope that things could be different._

 _A few weeks went by in the same fashion, our nightly study sessions for Charms even though I was sure Hermione I didn't actually need them anymore. I was sure that she hadn't told her friends about what had happened between us on that first night that I kissed her, and I was even more sure that she never told them about the nights that she kissed me first. I could tell in the way that she held herself and how lightly we talked that she needed the escape just as much as I did. No, neither of us had true feelings for each other, but that didn't matter to either of us it seemed. We needed time away from the hectic lives that we lead, and in the moments that we kissed or lightly teased each other it was as if we were living in a world where there wasn't a side to choose. Unfortunately, we both knew that those feelings weren't reality. We did live in a world with good and evil, and we were on two entirely different sides._

 _We had fallen into a habit of studying for a few hours and then discussing menial things that didn't really matter to me for the last half an hour, but tonight it seemed as if she had different plans. As I shoved my books into a bag, I looked back up to her to make a crack at the nosey librarian and found her staring at me with clouded eyes and thin, pressed together lips. It didn't take long to get an answer, as she explained herself before I could even ask. "Draco, you've listened me drag on and on about what I want to do with my life, but you've never talked about yourself. What do you want to do after Hogwarts?"_

 _Be alive, I thought to myself before looking up to her and shaking my head. "Granger, if I had any plans I would have told you by now. Believe me, if I had something to say that would have derailed you from talking about house elves, I would have spoken," I attempted to joke with her to change the subject, but it didn't appear that she was phased in the slightest before she sighed at me and rolled her eyes. "Of course you have plans, everyone has plans. Do you want to talk about them? I could help you figure out what you'd be good at, you know. Oh! I could talk to Professor Slughorn, you'd be an excellent Potions professor in the future! Maybe he'll take you on as an apprentice after school"_

 _As I sat beside her and she thought of things that she could help me do in the future, I knew it would be our last study session. I actually felt a little bit sad. This would be the last night of our little game. After this, we would go back to hating one another. It had to be that way. She wanted me to plan a future, and I couldn't give her that. I wasn't going to lie to her and say that I had plans when I was pretty sure that I would be dead before we graduated from Hogwarts. Effectively cutting her off, I stood and pulled her with me as I rose. For the final time, I leaned forwards and brought her soft lips to mine. All I could think about was how wrong I had been about her. She wasn't obnoxious and she wasn't snotty. She just wanted everyone to be the best versions of themselves, and I wasn't even sure if I had a good side. Tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear, I smiled at her weakly and then stepped away quietly. "Goodbye, Hermione." I said in a whisper, leaving and not looking back in fear of letting her talk me into a future that I was sure would be ripped away by Voldemort himself._

Scorpius' snort of laughter came at the end of my story, causing me to nod along with what I knew was going to come from him within a few seconds. "Not only were you a prat, you were stupid, too!" He practically howled with laughter. "You ran from Hermione Weasley because you were afraid of Voldemort. I guess we have something to thank that man for, then. She would have killed you eventually, you know. The minute you made fun of Harry or Ron would have been the end of you."

A round of laughter ripped through my abdomen, not even able to imagine what would have happened had Hermione and I pursued a relationship with one another. "Well, well, I see Junior Detective Scorpius Malfoy has come today, hasn't he? I don't recall saying Hermione's name to you," I chided, to which he responded with our infamous smirk. "Well, I know Hermione, dad, and calling her the brightest witch of your class was a dead give away. Anyways, back to the serious stuff. Why wouldn't someone like a Monday work exactly? What if Voldemort hadn't been around?"

That was a question that I had asked myself for many years. What would have happened if I hadn't been following orders from Voldemort. My heart hoped that I would be in the same position I was in now, but would have found my girl long before I actually did. Regardless of what I thought would have happened, I would never know. One thing that I did know was that I wouldn't have ended up marrying Hermione Granger. "Mondays aren't inherently bad or anything, you just don't marry Mondays because they're always two steps ahead of you in life. I wasn't ready to plan a future, and she had hers planned out since the moment she learned what a house elf was. I couldn't "

Scorpius now had a look of concentration on his face, and when he turned to me, I could see his usual signs of making a connection. His bright eyes and his pursed lipped smile were so very much like his mother. "But, someone did marry Hermione. So, people aren't necessarily one way or the other. She was just… your Monday?"

Throwing my arm around the back of his shoulders, I smiled proudly at him. "Exactly. I was probably her Tuesday, barely a distant memory and very forgettable." I chuckled, knowing I was setting myself up for another explanation about who my own Tuesday was.

"Dad, everyone thinks that you're forgettable."

Damn him and his sharp tongue. I swear, he got it from his mother.


	3. Tuesday

Hello, all! First off, I wanted to apologize for the slight delay on this update. Shortly after I submitted the last one I ran into some unforeseen health issues. Moral of the story: listen to your body and get help when needed.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this update, and as always I give credit to Buzzfeed for "The 7 Types of Girls You Date" and to J.K. Rowling for the Harry Potter universe.

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The rolling clouds had already sent my wife and two youngest children into the manor by the time I had finished telling Scorpius about my brief stint with Hermione. It wouldn't be long before the clouds opened up, allowing rain to lash against the walls and windows of the manor. I had always enjoyed the noise that it made in the quiet rooms of the house, and couldn't help but think that the incoming storm would be the start to a peaceful evening with my family. Hopefully, Scorpius would stay for dinner as a treat to his siblings, but I knew that no matter how much he loved them he had his own life and plans to live out now.

Breaking me out of my thoughts, Scorpius stood and looked towards the sky with a look of disdain, obviously finding nothing about the impending weather to be enjoyable. "Why don't we continue this in your office, dad? I brought us some Ogden's to share, anyways." He suggested, motioning for me to follow him towards the house. Rising slowly, I stretched my legs and soon fell in step beside him as we approached the expansive house in front of us. It had always been my home, and although it would one day be in Scorpius' possession, I knew he wouldn't live in it.

Unlike all of the Malfoys before us and even myself, Scorpius didn't like to flaunt any wealth that he may or may not have. I would never forget the day that I realized my son was no longer a child, but a prosperous man on his own. It was shortly after he had accepted his job for the Daily Prophet where he had basically started as a whipping boy for the chief editors, hoping to be assigned to small articles every once in awhile. His first article had been an interview with a member of the Wizengamot, discussing some new laws that were up for review. We had been, as a family, attending a ministry gala shortly after the release of his article when one of his co-workers had approached Scorpius with a sneer, stating that he had only been giving the opportunity to write already because of his wealth, and that he should have turned it down to let someone else have a chance at earning some gold.

My wife had held me back as I stepped forward to defend my son, her head nodding at a composed Scorpius beside me. Without raising his voice or throwing a signature smirk, Scorpius had bluntly told him that his father's money was not of his concern, and he was rather keen on starting his own fortune to live on. My heart had swelled with pride, knowing that he was more of a man that I had been at that age, for I had accepted my father's wealth and flaunted it to whoever was in my vicinity. Scorpius had always been cautious when accepting money from me even at a young age, but after he had started his career, Scorpius had hardly asked me for help in any way. Of course I would make sure he had proper dress robes for any event that we would attend, but on a daily basis he was almost always dressed casually as possible, his blond hair ruffled and unkept. Maybe he was the breath of fresh air that Malfoy name needed.

Sitting next to the fire while sipping on good Firewhiskey instantly warmed my body, and as I watched Scorpius become comfortable in his own arm chair, I lowered the glass from my face, enjoying the comfort of my office. "How's work going, you haven't mentioned it in awhile?" I prodded, desperate to know if he was still happy in his job. From his first day I had dutifully read his articles, and hadn't seen one in the morning paper in awhile. With a low chuckle, he shook his head from side to side, and I assumed he was deciding where to start. "Work is work, I've been reporting on something big that should be coming out within the next week. Be on the look out for it." Instead of a long explanation he offered up something vague, as he was always telling me to be patient for his next story to come out.

Before long we were both placing our empty glasses on the side table between us, feeling completely content in the moment. It took awhile, but finally Scorpius broke the silence, his fingers tapping on the wooden arm rest. "So, your story," he directed our conversation back to his reason for coming, causing me to smile lightly as he continued on. "How can someone be your Tuesday? You said that they were forgettable, so was it an actual relationship? Nothing memorable ever happens on Tuesdays, or at least not as a writer."

"Well, after I stopped my tutoring with Hermione, I met Tuesday. Technically I had already known her, as she was in my house and year, but I hadn't really talked to her until the end of my sixth year." I laughed, shaking my head at how bad my analogy was for this day and particular relationship. Tracey Davis was a Slytherin in my year that I had dated until I left Hogwarts with Snape and Bellatrix after Dumbledore's death. We weren't necessarily exclusive or even in a proper relationship, but when I wasn't working on my task from Voldemort, I spent a lot of my time with her.

I was much too concerned with my own affairs to really notice if she was funny or sweet, or what really made her herself, but she was easy enough to read. I had noticed that she was quiet, and the things that she did say were always well thought out and well placed, never seeking attention like the girls around her. She was someone that I could have a real conversation with, someone that I didn't have to talk about Voldemort or Death Eaters to. She seemed to understand that I just wanted to talk about menial things like Quidditch when no one else did. While the relationship may not have been memorable, I had always been appreciative of her acceptance of just letting things be.

 _"_ _Draco, what did your father want? It must have been pretty important if Snape was able to convince Dumbledore to let you go." Millicent Bulstrode practically screamed at me across the table, drawing the attention of half of the Slytherin table. I went rigid as the feeling of all of their eyes sent shivers up my back. The burning mark against my left wrist reminded me exactly of the reason of why I had left. I had been working on the cabinet when a burning sensation had nearly made me cry out. Although I had received the mark before returning to Hogwarts at the beginning of the year, this had been the first time that he had called for a meeting. What my peers didn't know was that Dumbledore had not been asked if I could leave. Rather, I had just went._

 _I opened my mouth to tell them all to shove off when a small hand rested on my shoulder and the owner sunk onto the bench beside me. "Talking about the Malfoys again, are we Millicent?" Tracey Davis said quietly, meeting Bulstrode with an icy glare that finally explained why she had been placed in Slytherin in the first place. "I'm sure there's something better for us to talk about, such as why Harry Potter is suddenly fantastic at potions?" I couldn't be more thankful to the girl as she changed the subject with ease. I noticed that once everyone had started to talk about Potter, Tracey had withdrawn from the conversation, obviously not caring._

 _Quirking an eyebrow at her, she shook her head minutely and lifted a shoulder in a shrug. We had barely ever had a conversation before, yet here she was diverting attention away from me without being asked to. Strangely, it had been the nicest thing anyone at the table minus Blaise had ever done for me, and I didn't even really know her. Closing my eyes, I released a breath as I tried to remind myself I had to get to know more people. Granger hadn't been so bad, after all. And at least this girl didn't actually hate me deep down or just want to get to know me because she thought I was in Voldemort's inner circle. Besides, it wouldn't hurt me to have more than just one reliable friend._

 _Although I had decided to get to know Tracey, my next run in with her didn't occur for a few weeks. My nights were spent in the Room of Requirement, endlessly trying to figure out what my next move would be. Voldemort had been angry at our last meeting, already deeming me a failure for not finishing any of my tasks. Though she was completely batty, I couldn't help but feel thankful that my Aunt Bella had bought me more time, that she had convinced Voldemort that the stupid cabinet had been almost completely ruined when we came into possession of it._

 _After another night of feeling like I had made little to no progress, I found myself sneaking outside to sit by the lake, something I always did when the weight of my tasks started to take too great of a toll on me. It was nights like these where I couldn't return to my dormitory as my failure normally turned to fear and nightmares of what Voldemort would do to my mother and myself when I did indeed fail. It was better for me to be outside and go without sleeping. Unlike all of the other times I had ventured out to the lake, I suddenly became aware of the fact that I was not alone. There was someone out there, someone in my spot._

 _Quietly, I crept forward, trying to distinguish who it was before they saw me. Just as their features started to come into view, a particularly feminine voice spoke and nearly scared me witless. "I was wondering if you'd be here tonight," She said simply, motioning for me to sit beside her without so much as turning to look at me. Wordlessly, I made my way to her and sat with my hands on bended knees before turning to look at her. She giggled softly at my questioning face, shaking her head before leaning back onto the cool grass. "I've seen you out here before, from the window in my dormitory. I don't know why you're always up so late, but since I am too I figured that we could both use some company."_

 _Once again, Tracey Davis surprised me. Who was this girl and where did she come from? She had been in my house for six years and until recently she had never said more than two words in a row to me. Although she hadn't directly asked me why I was out here, I could almost feel her curiosity hitting me in waves. "I-well, I don't really want to talk about it," I murmured stiffly before laying back as she had. I had too many people in my life that only wanted to use me because of my last name, and if her motivation wasn't for use, then it could really only mean one thing. I could accept her friendship, but I'd have to be careful or Voldemort would use her against me at any chance he got._

 _"_ _I wasn't going to ask you to talk about it," Tracey assured me, before pointing up to the sky. "Isn't that Draco?" My gaze drifted upwards, following her hand until I saw the constellation in question. "Yeah, that's the one," I smiled, wondering how she could so easily switch between conversations without any awkward moments in between. We stayed there the rest of the night, talking about her love of Astronomy, and how it was rather funny that I knew very little about it considering most people in my family were named after celestial bodies. The conversation hadn't been important, but the company had kept me from sleeping, kept me from dreaming._

 _She didn't join me every night, but her visits to the lake were frequent enough. We talked about her family, and how they were very in the middle in this war, and occasionally we would talk about how not in the middle my own family was. Somehow, Tracey always seemed to know when my nights were worse than others, and on those nights she would take my hand in hers, and we wouldn't talk about the war at all. Instead it would be about the latest gossip traveling the Slytherin common rooms that wasn't about me. Who was dating who and would they ever last._

 _On the night that I finished the cabinet, I couldn't have felt more scared or more happy. I was free of the damned cabinet, I hadn't failed. Although this happiness found me easily, fear started to creep in soon, and I knew that everything would be changing soon. The next night Bellatrix and a few other Death Eaters would travel through the cabinet and I would have to kill Dumbledore. As I made my way to the lake, I was relieved to see my companion already waiting for me. "Ah, I didn't think you were coming," she stated happily, already staring at the stars above her._

 _I seated myself next to her, looking up at the constellations that she had taught me about. I didn't really owe her anything, an apology or an explanation, and I had a feeling she didn't expect one. And be that as it may, I still looked to my side, a sorry expression forming on my normally stoic features. "I'll be gone after tomorrow, I… I have to do some stuff," I broke off vaguely, not knowing how to tell the girl I was going to kill our headmaster the next night. Instead of replying, she took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before starting to talk about something funny that Slughorn had said during potions that day. Although my life was changing drastically, the normalcy of the conversation reminded me that I could be normal too, that I wasn't just a Death Eater who would have his first kill the next night._

"She seemed nice though, why didn't you properly date her later on? It didn't seem as if she would have hated you even after the war" Scorpius pointed out, pouring himself another drink before topping off my own. His question was one that I had asked myself many times right out of the war, but it wasn't something that I often dwelled on. "Part of it was the timing. If I had been in a relationship, Voldemort probably would have threatened the person when I failed, and I wasn't going to be responsible for anyone else's death if I could help it," I started, knowing that this was only part of it. "I also just didn't have a connection with her that was strong enough to maintain a relationship after the war. While she may not have cared that I hadn't been exactly good, there was nothing about us that was worth fighting for. She wouldn't have fought for me because being ridiculed would have been far more costly than any gain I could have given her. And as for me, I don't think I really thought of her as more than a friend."

She had of course been a nice, lovely young woman who would have made a fine girlfriend, but there were plenty of those in the world. While nice was definitely different at the time, I hadn't felt anything exciting when I thought of Tracey. I was content, yes, but compared to other experiences that I had, our time together was rather forgettable. She had been lovely company at the time, but a few nights of handholding were never going to turn into something more. Not something that would have amounted to any length of time, anyways.

Before Scorpius could question me any farther, a small knocking sound came from across the room. "Come on in, Lyra, it's unlocked." I called, knowing the soft nature of the knock could only come from one person that inhabited the manor. At ten years old she was small for her size, easily fitting in the chair with me. As she pulled herself into my lap I felt a pang of sadness hit my heart. I knew that I had limited moments like this left, that after she left for Hogwarts she would start to feel as if she was too cool for her old father. Scorpius and their middle brother, Thuban, had both lost interest in this sort of thing as soon as they had left, and I could only hope that since she was a girl that she would be different, that she would never not want to spend time with me.

"I can't stay long. Mum told me to leave you alone, but I wanted to Scorpius. It's been so long," Lyra complained, obviously pouting to emphasize why it was so important that she disobeyed her mother to see her brother. I smirked proudly behind her head, knowing I had a little Slytherin in the making. Although she was as smart as a Ravenclaw, kind as a Hufflepuff, and as adventurous as a Gryffindor, she could throw all of those traits out of the window to favor being cunning to get her way. "Why did you come here anyways, it's been weeks! You haven't even been home to see how good I'm getting at flying, and you promised you'd come to the Falcons game with me and dad last week. I thought you forgot me," She continued to pout, her bottom lip protruding slightly.

I stifled a laugh at the distressed look that crossed Scorpius' face. There really was nothing worse than a guilt trip by Lyra, she had a way of pulling directly on your heartstrings. "I'm sorry, Lyra, things came up at work and I've been really busy. I sent an owl for you, did you get it?" Scorpius apologized softly, and Draco knew that he was upset that his little sister had taken it so hard. "Yes, but I still missed you," Lyra finally whispered, relenting on the pouting and settling for honesty. Although Scorpius was nearly twice Lyra's age, there had always been a special bond between the two, and she had taken his leaving the house the hardest. Scorpius had always been a good brother, exceptional even, and one of his hardest struggles of leaving the house had been how to manage his time between family, friends, and work. For the most part he visited once or twice a week, but recently he hadn't been able to make it due to work, and as I suspected, his budding relationship.

"Well, I'm glad you came, Lyra. I was just telling Scorpius some stories, and this next one is proper for you to hear as well. Why don't you go sit on his lap so I can look at you both while I tell the story? If your Mum asks, I'll tell her Scorpius lured you in. We all know she won't get mad at him." I hugged my daughter lightly before she left my lap for his, and turned towards Scorpius with a smirk forming. He nodded his thanks at me for starting to mend his wrongdoings to Lyra, and I settled back into my chair, preparing to tell the story of my unexpected and surprising Wednesday.


End file.
